Becca DiNunzio carefully studied her lie from the rough just off the 18th green and had one thought in mind: Make
Jackie Rogowicz earn the Donna Andrews Invitational title.
Rogowicz, clinging to a one-shot lead, had a tricky, sweeping downhill putt for birdie. DiNunzio wanted her chip to either trickle close to the hole or find its way into the cup and shift the pressure squarely onto Rogowicz and her putter.
Rogowicz stood just off the front of the 18th green and did her best to keep her sigh of relief to herself, as DiNunzio’s bump-and-run attempt for birdie ran by the hole.
She could finally envision grasping the championship trophy.
Rogowicz closed Tuesday’s final round with six straight pars, and her steady play allowed her to hold off DiNunzio’s charge and win the third annual Donna Andrews Invitational at Boonsboro Country Club in Lynchburg, Va.
Rogowicz is the first wire-to-wire winner of this event.
“It’s awesome,” said Rogowicz, who shot a final-round 73 to finish with a three-day total of 9 under. “A lot of college players [in the field], and Boonsboro is a great course and they do such a nice job running the tournament. It means a lot.”
Rogowicz, the 2019 Porter Cup champion who played collegiately at Penn State, edged DiNunzio by two shots, and they were the only two golfers to finish the 54-hole tournament with scores under par.
DiNunzio, the reigning Virginia State Golf Association women’s player of the year who plays collegiately at Virginia Tech, cut Rogowicz’s lead to one with a 36-foot birdie putt at No. 16.
That set up a tense final two holes in which each putt was magnified.
“I think that was just all I could ask for is to keep it kind of close coming in,” DiNunzio said after finishing runner-up for the second straight year. “To only have one shot between us, that can change in one or two holes. I was happy to make that to at least give it a go towards the end.”
DiNunzio’s tee shot at 17 landed 12 feet below the hole to set up a birdie opportunity that could have tied Rogowicz.
Her birdie attempt, though, just missed, and the two both made par to preserve Rogowicz's precious one-shot edge heading to No. 18.
“I think I just didn’t set up to it perfectly and I just missed my starting line fractionally, so it came up a fraction low,” DiNunzio said. “I was happy with my putting throughout the day, just I wish I was a little more committed to that one.”
Both players were in the center of the fairway on No. 18. Rogowicz’s approach shot landed on the left side of the green, while DiNunzio’s shot landed in the rough just short of the green on the right side.
DiNunzio’s bump-and-run bounced onto the green and rolled by the hole and stopped above the cup for a difficult downhill putt.
Courtesy of Damien Sordelett, Lynchburg News & AdvanceView results for The Donna Invitational
ABOUT THE
The Donna Invitational
Started in 2019, this is a 54-hole stroke
play event honoring Donna Andrews, the major
champion and Virginia Sports Hall of Famer who
grew up at the host Boonsboro Country Club.
Open to any female player with a Handicap Index of
14.4 or less, the field will be limited to 72
competitors, selected at the discretion of The Donna
Andrews Invitational.
Open, Junior (non-college players ages 18 or lower),
Mid-Am
(ages 25+), and Senior (ages 50+) divisions.
View Complete Tournament Information